Fostering Gender Equality: Meeting the Entrepreneurship and Microfinance Challenge

The report is part of the 15 month transnational project 'Fostering Gender Equality: Meeting the Entrepreneurship and Microfinance Challenge.' The study provides an in-depth analysis of the entrepreneurial environment for women in eight European countries and information on policy and programmes regarding women's entrepreneurship and self-employment at the EU level. The study uses a multidimensional Scorecard tool that helps the research team in each country assess the environment for women entrepreneurs against key factors affecting female entrepreneurship. These factors are grouped into six dimensions:

• General National Context for Entrepreneurship;
• Gender Equality in Society;
• Gender Equality in Labor Market Inclusion;
• Gender Equality in Entrepreneurship;
• Gender Equality in Support Structures for Entrepreneurship;
• Gender Equality in Access to Finance.

The cross-country comparison aims to enable policy makers, funding providers, practitioners and researchers to identify strengths and weaknesses as well as good practices they can adopt to promote gender equality in entrepreneurship and microfinance in their own countries.